RS

FRONT PAGE CONTRIBUTOR

The White House has found a place for the Uighurs! Palau!

I had to look it up, too.

8,188.82 miles away from Washington, DC (if this site is to be believed), which is actually about 8,000 miles less than I expected. Then again, there probably isn’t anything there except empty ocean*, and if the administration was just going to dump terrorists into the water it would have said so.

The obscure Pacific nation of Palau, one of the world’s youngest and tiniest countries, has agreed to take in the 17 Uighurs — Muslim Chinese — currently being held at Guantanamo.

President Johnson Toribiong announced in a statement to the Associated Press that Palau “agreed to accommodate the United States of America’s request to temporarily resettle in Palau up to 17 ethnic Uighur detainees.” He said their resettlement in Palau would be “subject to periodic review.”

[snip]

The US government has pledged $200 million in aid to Palau, but a White House official denied that money, for development assistance, had anything to do with the Uighurs going to Palau.

No word from Jake whether the official was able to say that with a straight face. Well, that’s how the game is played. See also Hot Air and AoSHQ for some healthy doses of cynicism; mine below the fold.

So… the Palauans (?) get 200 million, the White House gets rid of the most awkward problematic cases standing in its way from keeping Gitmo open, and the Uighurs get sent to a tropical island getaway best known for a Survivor episode. If you’re wondering how a population of 21 thousand has the infrastructure to maintain even 17 detainees, the answer’s simple: it doesn’t. They’ll be kept for a while and then quietly released; and if the Uighurs are smart, they’ll take the hint, find a hammock, and stock up on non-alcoholic margaritas. If they’re not… well, they’re closer to the PRC and glorious martyrdom than they are to the USA anyway, which is really the important consideration for the administration.

And all it took was 200 million of your tax money. Isn’t that swell?

Moe Lane

*This is a surprisingly sparse topic of study on the Internet. Either that, or I’m looking in the wrong place.